


The Villain?

by MinerL2020



Series: Not Alone [3]
Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Anti-Hero, Bittersweet Ending, Complacency of the Learned, Deconstruction, Drama, Elements of Harmony (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Human, Strategy & Tactics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:08:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28040667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinerL2020/pseuds/MinerL2020
Summary: For several months, Equestria has been under siege by a mysterious figure known as Omega Black, who wields technology never seen before. Using a legion of soldiers of an unknown species, he has been effortlessly defeating several of the Royal Guards. One of his soldiers makes a mistake, however, and leaves behind an important clue. The Elements of Harmony go to confront him, but as they speak with him, they learn that the answers aren't so black and white.
Series: Not Alone [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053593





	The Villain?

**Author's Note:**

> I only own the OCs.

The six mares marched across the snowy tundra, and towards the towering mountain.

“At last, we’re here!” declared Rarity. “Finally, we’ll find out who is behind these attacks!”

For the last few months in Equestria, a strange group had been performing acts that seemingly had no connection. One day, it was a near perfect heist, another it was a shootout. Thankfully, no one had been hurt, but the authorities had been too slow to catch these people. They possessed advanced weaponry, and had bewildering coordination. They were excellent at distracting ponies near their targets. But what _really_ set them apart was their species. They had never been seen before even in this world of diverse sapience. We, of course, would recognize them on sight, because they were the same species as you or me; _Homo Sapiens_ , or humans. Of course, Equestrians never saw them before.

“Maybe nopony has been hurt,” remarked Twilight Sparkle. “But we have to stop their leader! I’m not counting on him continuing to avoid harming the citizens of Equestria.”

“Apple Bloom nearly got kidnapped by them!” Applejack agreed. “Ah’m gonna have to introduce him to mah hind legs.”

“Yeah? Get in line,” answered Rainbow Dash.

“Can you two please wait?” Fluttershy whispered to them. “If you don’t mind.”

“Flutters is right!” agreed Pinkie Pie. “We’ll show that meanie what happens when you mess with the Elements of Harmony! He’s gonna be locked away for five-ever!”

“Come on, everypony!” declared Twilight. “Let’s show Black what our friendship can do!”

Earlier that day, one of the invaders had dropped a note that read; “After you are finished, return to the mountain Olymprance. There, you will receive further instructions. Omega Black.”

Little did they realize, this had been exactly what Black had been planning. He was expecting them.

And the surprise he had in store for them would almost knock them off their hooves.

“So, we’re here,” Rainbow Dash said. “So how do we find the entrance?”

“It’s right over there!” Pinkie pointed, and sure enough, there was a poorly concealed door. They walked over and peeked in, seeing two guards at the end of a short hallway.

“Right,” Twilight said. “We need a diversion.”

“Leave that to me.” Rarity charged up her horn, and launched, causing a burst of light and sound. The guards jumped, and ran outside, towards the noise. The group ran to the door, and towards the end of the hallway, not noticing the guards turn around. One of the guards walked forward, and picked up a small cyan feather.

“Omega’s gambit worked,” he said. “They’re here.”

The other pulled out a walkie-talkie. “Post 1b to Black; the Elements of Harmony have arrived.”

“Thank you,” came a polite voice on the other side, a far cry from the brand of villain usually found in Equestria. “You two can join the others in the break room. You’ve done exceptionally well in your parts.”

“Thanks, boss.”

“You’re very welcome. See you this evening.”

* * *

The six mares marched down the corridor. They were trying to be stealthy, but it turned out to be unnecessary. There were absolutely no guards in sight.

“It’s mighty suspicious, don’t ya think?” Applejack asked.

“Well, I’m not complaining,” Fluttershy said. “We don’t have to fight at all.”

Still, the six mares couldn’t help but be wary, until they reached a door at the end of the building. In fact, it seemed like the only door. They couldn’t have realized most of the doors were being covered up by metal shields, and men were peeking out of them, watching the group. They went into the door…

“The Elements of Harmony, I presume?” a voice said. They whipped around, and saw Omega Black for the first time. And he wasn’t what they had expected. They couldn’t be sure what they had been thinking of, but it certainly wasn’t this. Omega Black, despite being alien to them, was surprisingly ordinary. You could have never guessed he was a villainous mastermind in a crowd of those people. He was wearing a simple black trench coat, black boots, and a pair of black dress pants. He had brown hair and brown eyes, and slightly tan skin, and a slight stubble on his jaw. He would be taller than Celestia, even if she were standing on her hind legs. He wasn’t handsome, but he wasn’t ugly, either. He was just… plain.

“I apologize for forcing you to hike through the mountains,” he said, “but I have a matter of great importance to speak with you.”

The six of them were surprised. His voice wasn’t the arrogant, condescending tone that they had come to expect from most villains. It was polite, and genuinely so. They could see no contempt, or hatred for them in his eyes, or expression. Still, they quickly shook it off.

“Ah’ve got somethin’ ta discuss with ya, Omega Black,” growled Applejack. “It concerns mah sister.”

“Ah, your sister. Yellow fur, red hair, orange eyes, pink bow, around ten years old?”

“That’s the one,” she growled. “And Ah’m gonna hafta teach ya a lesson fer tryin’ ta kidnap her!”

“Oh?” he asked, looking genuinely surprised. “I’m sorry about that, Applejack. I didn’t know one would try to do that. I gave them _specific_ instructions not to try to hurt or kidnap anyone.” He shook his head. “I’ll have to place that man on janitor duty for a week. Believe me when I say I had no idea he planned to do that.”

“Oh really?” asked Rarity. “Well how did you know what _her_ sister looked like?”

“It wasn’t hard to deduce, though considering my reputation, I understand why you are suspicious. She was clearly living at the farm as a fixed resident. I know for a fact that Apples mostly stay on one farm per family, and she was far too old to be the 20 year old Applejack’s daughter.”

_“Shut up!”_ snapped Rainbow Dash. “Drop the act already, and tell us what you’re planning to do to Equestria.”

“I don’t blame you for thinking it’s an act, Rainbow,” Omega Black said. “But I shall lay out my plans for you.

“The seemingly unrelated acts that my people have done are actually in preparation for the creation of a giant machine I call Daemon. It is one of the most effective combat machines ever built, helped along by magic. It is extremely fast and effective, quickly doing several successive attacks, and precise, causing little or no damage, except to its targets.

“It is meant to attack several of the most populated areas in your country, causing widespread damage, in just half an hour. It is then I shall move on to the next plan.”

“You know we can’t let you do that,” Twilight said.

Now, Black looked surprised. “‘Do that’? Twilight, I’m not a Western Animation villain. Do you seriously expect me to _explain_ my master stroke, were there the slightest chance of you affecting the outcome? The final phase of my first plan was completed thirty-seven minutes ago. You’re just in time to see the outcome.” A giant door opened, and a huge, terrifying machine flew through. Daemon was a twenty feet tall, pure black, anthropomorphic robot, with a blank face, and visor, weapons bristling across it in resting position. Yet, it wasn’t anything fancy. Just a well crafted piece of machinery.

_“Mission complete,”_ it said in a flat monotone voice. _"_ _Targets destroyed.”_

The six mares looked shocked. Twilight’s face morphed into one of rage. She did something she hadn’t done in years. Her fur turned pure white, her eyes became blood red, and her mane and tail burst into flames. With a shriek of fury, she lunged at Black, and began slugging him across the face.

_**“MURDERER!”**_ she screamed. **“YOU MURDERED INNOCENT PONIES! YOU MONSTER! THEY NEVER DID ANYTHING TO YOU!”**

Omega Black didn’t resist. He simply managed to grunt out. “I didn’t program Daemon to kill anyone.”

_**“YOU!** YOU! You! _You! You… didn’t?” The flames on Twilight went out. She pulled herself off Omega. “Bu-but, Daemon! The weapons! The destroyed targets! The cities!” As she spoke, Daemon discreetly pushed a finger into a computer. Black pulled a remote out of his trench coat. Applejack narrowed her eyes.

“What’s that? Another one of your weapons?”

“Yes,” Black answered, face badly bruised, and pressed a button. Almost immediately, several screens lit up, showing the attacks from Daemon’s point of view. They saw ponies in the vicinity, and Daemon’s scanners read, **“Civilians in the area. Mission; Intimidation. Keep equines out of the range of weapons.”**

He fired off a missile, which hit an abandoned warehouse, a mere 30 feet from the ponies. They screamed, and ran off. This was reflected in the screens across. Missiles were shot near, but always completely missed. Bullets were shot, but only near enough for ponies to stampede away. Any buildings that were hit were confirmed to be empty. Royal guards that tried to intervene were shot with an orange goop that reminded Twilight of Changeling cocoons, and nonlethally pinned down. No one was hurt, but it certainly had to be terrifying.

“I-I thought you said it was precise!” said a shocked Twilight.

“Daemon is,” Black responded. “It was never my intention to hurt anyone. If there is one thing I’ve learned through the years, it’s that you do what is necessary, but do everything in your power not to harm anyone. To never do anything that causes too much damage. And never reveal yourself until needed.” He paused. “Elements, my real name is Roderick Stevens.”

Pinkie looked confused. “If you never wanted to hurt anyone, then why are you here?”

“Very well then, allow me to explain. As you may know, I don’t come from Equestria. But I’m not from another one of your world’s lands.”

“Then where are you from?” Twilight asked.

“This is going to be difficult to believe. I’m not from your world. Not another planet, but another universe entirely.”

As he expected, their jaws practically hit the ground. “But… That’s impossible!” Twilight whispered.

“It should be,” Stevens said. “But it happened anyway. After all, your own world seems to be a melting pot of impossibilities. Where I come from, dragons, griffons, and the like are mere myths. The sun and moon move through the forces of gravity. Ponies are only animals, and not very smart ones at that. At least, not nearly as smart as yourselves. Humans, my own species, are, with the possible exception of dolphins, the only sapient species. And the biggest difference, is that we don’t have magic. At all.”

The six mares were shocked. “But how do you control the weather?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Or grow all your plants?” asked Applejack.

“Or help your animals develop?” asked Fluttershy.

“The short answer is, we don’t,” answered Stevens. “The planet I come from is entirely self sustaining. We control nothing on it. We can _manipulate_ our environment to a certain extent, but we are nowhere near as in control as you are here. The multiple biomes are often worse than the Everfree Forest.”

“But that place is so scary!” protested Rarity.

“It’s nothing compared to the forests of planet Earth. I have had several men camp out there, and they all survived. The creatures are relatively easy to outsmart. That chimera was too busy talking to herself to actually hunt them. The manticore was nothing but putty. Soon enough, he was on his back, getting belly rubs from them. Bugbears were easily scared off. The cockatrice gave us the most trouble, because its gaze nearly turned one of my men into stone. However, they don’t fight sleep. One tranquilizer dart was all that was needed to put it out and free that man. The only reason you’re so scared is because everything around you in your daily lives is almost artificial. The plants are merely one big farm. The animals are basically pets. Weather is like turning on a hose. On my planet, the large predators fight sleep, and don’t bother with announcing their presence. They kill through stealth. They go straight for the jugular.

“Even the smaller creatures are deadly. The simple mosquito kills the most humans every year. But that’s not because of what they do to us. It’s the things we can’t see that are the most dangerous. Diseases that can kill you easily are common. There are multiple poisonous things that cause death in mere hours without treatment, and ones that make you _wish_ you were dead. Herbivores are often as deadly as the Carnivores. Earth is a house of death, ruled by competition. Its only rule is, ‘survival of the fittest’. Do you know how humans survived? By being the most adaptive species. Survival of the fittest doesn’t mean survival of the strongest. It means survival of the species most suited to their environment. The one that can adapt the most easily to Earth’s ever-changing surface.

“Of course, we humans make Earth even deadlier. I’m going to be honest with you, human beings are often violent and destructive, and on a large scale. We have caused damage to our planet. The worst villains there have murdered millions of people. Our voices alone can change an ecosystem. We have built weapons not as precise as Daemon. Ones that can reduce cities to rubble in seconds. I first came here through a portal. I was a government agent for an organization known as the CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency. I had come to the portal to investigate anomalous energy. I was pulled in, and I saw your world was almost free of conflict. At least, on the scale we have. What I have done is nothing more than a dip in the sand compared to others. Equestria must prepare for contact with my people. It is inevitable at this stage.”

“Pfft!” Rainbow Dash snorted. “So what? We’ve defeated bad guys before. What makes you think yours will be any different?”

“Tell me, Rainbow Dash,” Stevens said. “How many species have _your_ people destroyed without even realizing it? You must force yourselves to be warriors. _We_ must force ourselves to _not_ be _death.”_

“Death?” Fluttershy whispered.

“You saw how easily I defeated your guards without trying to kill them. Do you honestly think you’ll stand a chance if there are people trying to kill you? I sent Daemon in an attempt to show your leaders the threat humanity poses, even if they didn’t realize we existed.”

“But she’s too powerful to be beaten!” Twilight protested.

“As in the royal wedding?” he asked. Twilight had no response to that.

“I had to show Celestia she made a mistake that so many of you ponies make; she is not a god.”

“But she moves the sun!” protested Pinkie.

“Yes. But did she create you?”

“She did, and came down to Equestria to help us move the sun!” argued Rarity.

“Why would she need a physical form to move the sun?” Rarity didn’t argue. “Your Princess isn’t nearly as old as your species is. She is only decades over 1100 years old. If she were all powerful, or all knowing, she would have caught Chrysalis weeks before the wedding.”

“And why should we believe you?” barked Rainbow Dash. “You’ve been lying and manipulating us this whole time.”

“The way Celestia used you? She lied to Twilight about the return of Nightmare Moon. She deduced that being would return, and Celestia claimed to have disregarded her warnings.”

“She only left out the fact that Nightmare Moon was real,” Applejack argued.

“A lie of omission is still a lie. Not only that, she didn’t tell you exactly what you were up against with Discord. She told Twilight to not tell the five of you she had absorbed the power of all the alicorns. And if she did know that Chrysalis was disguised as Cadence, she lied by refusing to support Twilight’s accusations.” Applejack clamped her mouth shut. “Allow me to show you something else.” He pressed a button on his remote. It showed a picture of one of Canterlot Castle’s meeting rooms. “I had those cameras installed a long time ago. If I honestly wanted to rule your country, I could have done it easily.”

“Are we all in agreement?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, your majesty. We the council have agreed to begin overhauling the training of the Royal Guard. It’s clear that we have grown complacent. That machine easily overwhelmed our forces with nonlethal methods. It’s fortunate it wasn’t accurate with lethal attacks, or else civilians would have gotten hurt.” Their eyes widened. No one was hurt?

Stevens turned to them, remorse on his face, and said, “I truly am sorry for what I did. I am unsure if it was necessary or not, but ponies _cannot_ rely on the six of you all the time. I will come quietly, and give you all my information on human weaponry. I will even give you Daemon. I only ask that you let my men go.”

The others looked at each other. Twilight sighed. “I guess he’s right. We have grown unaware. If we tell Equestria that he never intended to hurt anypony, they could rescind the spending. If humanity is as dangerous as he says, then the Elements of Harmony will be worthless. They don’t sound like something that can be easily defeated. If they want us dead, we’re dead.”

“You mean we’ll have to…” Applejack began. “...Okay.”

“He’s right,” said Rarity. “We failed to stop him here. If the worst are even slightly like that, we won’t stand a chance.”

“Fine!” Rainbow Dash said, reluctantly. “But we’ll always make a difference in the end, using our way!”

“‘In the end’?” asked Stevens, catching their attention. “Nothing ends, Rainbow Dash. Nothing ever ends.”

The six went quiet.

**Author's Note:**

> This sequence was inspired by Ozymandias' plan at the end of Watchmen, just without all the death.


End file.
